The subspecies 'spinosissima' only
rarely grows higher than 30cm. It has dirty white to coppery red
spines and does not have the bristles in the axils most of the time.

The subspecies 'tepoxlana' has yellow
spines.

The subspecies 'pilcayensis' has whiter
spines and the stems can grow to 50cm long/high. It might have some
latex/bristles in the axils.The flowers are purple-pink on all subspecies.

Cultivation: Its qualities
and ease of cultivation justify that it is an old favourite. It don't
requires any special treatment, but it needs as much light as possible
(without burning the plant) to encourage the heaviest spine formation.
Regular water in summer, dry in winter. Frost tolerance: -4° C.
Propagation: Seeds or
offsets.
Photo of
conspecific taxa, varieties, forms and cultivars of Mammillaria spinosissima